a motley selection of sugar & spice...
the perfect wave as yet not encountered or discovered, but the search continues...
harmony & melody, rhythm & the spaces between...
it is all perception...

sugar & spice

while the bpm remain the same throughout there is a doubling of time and then a reversion to the previous tempo

March Hare

January 2022's efforts...
the usual worldly mix of the conventional and the outlandish...served [this month] in prophetic proportions...
the symmetry was too hard to ignore...
life as we know it is to be changed forever...

Lost Prophets

Given The Circumstances

Ulek

Ground Cover

Pieds-à-Terre

Twilight

a laid-back approach to dealing with Customs...
the instrumentation suggests a far east terminal...
of course, there's always the double entendre of remaining silent...

Nothing To Declare

the ney (flute) is played by Fahreddin Acar, member of the sufi orchestra(of whirling dervish fame)in Konya, Turkey. Recorded in the summer of 1992 on a portable DAT recorder.

Tigris

140412 – Road to Ardeşen

It was the summer of 1992. I was staying in a rather grubby cheap hotel in Trabzon on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. I was there on a private quest to record as much of the the music of the country as I could.
Many of the other occupants of the hotel were young travellers savouring both the delights and the pitfalls of discovering the world. 
I arrived in Trabzon in the late afternoon having taken a bus from Samsun farther west. I had fallen asleep on the bus and, with my head against the window had woken up with a stiff neck. Still drowsy, I came upon a hotel with a tiny lobby was young couple negotiating the price of a room with the owner. It so happened that the only available room was one for three people and the owner wasn’t about to reduce the price for just two. I arrived just in time to make the threesome.
A group of people from the hotel were all going to the hamam (Turkish bath) and they invited me to join them. With the stiff neck and all, this was just what I wanted. I would never have gone on my own, so this was a golden opportunity.
After washing and having my back walked on by a venerable but able masseur, I came out feeling like a million bucks, as the saying goes.
One of the regional musical instruments in the northeast part of Turkey is the tulum. A form of bagpipe whose bellows is made from the hide of a goat. It was some of this music that I had designs on recording. Having explained my purpose to my roommates, I was told that a baker nearby played the tulum and they agreed to introduce me to the man and, perhaps, allow me to record him playing it. A day or two later we visited his bakery-cum-tea shop. As it happens, he was a very grumpy and uncooperative sort. He deigned to allow me to see the instrument for about two or three seconds before wrapping it up again and putting it out of sight. Through an interpreter, he asked me what I was doing in Turkey and I explained that I was a student studying music. At the time I was about 40 years old and the baker snorted and told us that I was too old to be a student! He did, however, suggest we take a trip to a very remote village in the mountains called Camlihemşin.
A couple of days later I decided to take a trip there to see what I could find. I was joined by a young woman who had offered to accompany me.
The journey turned out to be a very arduous and lengthy one with all sorts of perils and surprises. We left Trabzon in a dolmuş, a small bus designed to carry about a dozen people comfortably, but, as the trip progressed, more and more passengers squeezed into the poor groaning vehicle until we in the seats at the back felt like squashed lemons. After about a couple of hours of sweating and jostling with the bus carrying twice as many people as it should; having coughed and wheezed through the seaside villages of Araklı, Of and Rize, we eventually arrived in Pazar. The most memorable part of the scenery were the beautiful dark green plots of tea plants. These bushes grow in profusion all along the route, providing lush herbaceous fields and borders. Much of the country’s ubiquitous tea is grown in this region.
The bus terminated at Pazar and our next step was to try to find our way south into the mountains to Camlihemşin. As luck would have it, we were approached by two men who said they would take us there and would give us a ride in their minibus. So we unhesitatingly hopped aboard.
Perhaps there are times in your life when you look back and wonder how naïve you behaved and wish you could erase that bit and re-load. If you have never felt that way, then you are very fortunate.
The journey proved to be seemingly endless. The condition of the road was becoming worse the further we went. It was starting to get foggy; cloud perhaps, the elevation was by now quite high, it was beginning to get dark and if all that wasn’t bad enough the two men began to drink heavily from a bottle (or two) of vodka. We finally arrived at this rather spooky looking village surrounded by spectacular scenery. Through the swirling puffs of mist we could see precipitous cliffs and tumbling waterfalls. The inhabitants, ancient old men and women carrying bales of twigs on their bent backs, eyed us with suspicion, probably with good reason. The likelihood of me finding somebody who played tulum was looking pretty remote. The road seemed to peter out and amid the deepening mist and gloom we could just make out a deep rocky valley that led farther into the mountains. The driver turned the bus around and we began our return journey.
By now the two men were pretty loaded and they began to become argumentative and even threatening. The drunker of the two began to grope and molest my companion. They asked for money. If only I had thought to negotiate a price at the beginning of the trip. That was a BIG mistake. Eventually, the driver pulled over to the side of the gravel road saying that there was something wrong with the bus and he could go no further. We were apparently in the middle of the countryside with nowhere to go and nobody to call on for assistance. It seemed to me that there was nothing wrong at all with the bus and his stopping was an excuse for committing some sinister act. I said as much to my companion who, as I have mentioned, had already been a victim of one the men’s groping hands. We made a hasty exit and after some altercation with the two men in which the drunker of them tried to molest the girl again and, warning him off, we began running down the road as fast as we could. The men chased us but gave up soon probably because they were too intoxicated to keep up.

By now it was raining heavily and we were soaked. Because of the elevation, it was cold. We were dressed only in light clothing for the hot and humid coastal climate. I don’t recall how far we walked or for how long, but we came to a large building set back from the the road with a fence and gates. In the brightly lit courtyard, large, heavy trucks were idling. We walked inside and tried to explain our situation. The workmen in this tea processing plant, for that is what it was, were very sympathetic and invited us upstairs into what appeared to be their lunchroom. Tea and fresh apricots were brought and placed on the dining table and we thankfully rested our tired bodies on the seats.
I must have managed to convey what we, or at least I, was doing in this remote part of Turkey, or maybe it was just unbelievable luck, I don’t remember. But the next thing I know there is a man sitting next to me playing a sipsi. It was all rather dream-like. Just to explain, a sipsi is essentially the chanter, the ‘business’ part of a bagpipe. It consists of a wooden tube about the size of a thick pencil. It also has some fingerholes cut into it. At one end of the tube, a reed is inserted. This is a thinner tube which has had a knife taken to it to cut a slice into it. This thinner piece is placed in the mouth of the player and as he blows the thin reed vibrates and creates a very harsh, well, bag-pipey sound. Since there is no airbag, the player is required to use the circular method of breathing which allows for uninterrupted sequential notes.
He graciously permitted me to record his tunes, and they are samples from this recording that you hear on this piece of music which I have built around just a small part of one of his melodies.
The day would otherwise have been better forgotten, but as luck would have it, I was rewarded with this magnificent field recording.


Road To Ardeşen

this began as an experiment with a west-African style lick and developed into what you hear.

Misgivings

this piece begins [and ends] with tamboura and distinctly indian influences. However, despite that, it progresses into a soft rock instrumental via some un-western harmonies and instrumentation where both tabla & drum kit make appearances...hence the title...
the blackbird was recorded from my back yard.

Emergence

the tense central theme is repeated several times and punctuated by an assortment of variations.

Night Crossing

a contemplative introduction broadens into variations on the original theme
...also includes some "unexpected" harmonies and chord progressions [strings, piano] and some short but compelling melodies.

Shrug

a moderately-paced synchopated instrumental using acoustic saz, kora, electric guitar & lap percussion

One Step Closer

a decidedly gothic start to this piece and although the theme is consistent, there are developments which may be construed as unorthodox.....
think Ryuchi Sakomoto's "Sheltering Sky". 
the harmonies provide a hint of something unearthly or maybe from the crypt? 
the efx include local rooks and a very ancient bell located in Veauche, France.

Romanesque

many different instruments used here...gayageum, kopuz, saz, various guitars + samples & percussion
the piece moves through several different phases often playing with superimposed/layered rhythms/tempos.
the title is just a twist on the word-order.

Saving Daylight

as with all mutual agreements, there are often setbacks...the phrasing in this piece made me think of the process of negotiation, reciprocation, making concessions and compromises and working towards a compatible and equitable harmony for all parties involved.
the accompanying picture [girls playing "nol-ttwigi"] exemplifies the necessity of cooperation at all levels in order to maintain balance.

Rapprochement

the Romanesque sequel using essentially, the same instrumentation as the previous one I posted...however, the mood is a little lighter...
the Veauche bell has been replaced by a korean percussion instrument known as kkwaenggwaeri...

Romanesque II

begins with a fifties-style jazz riff but along with organ I use kopuz & sanxian as well as electric saz to take the melodies...
a small surprise is in store for those who play to the end...

Beehives & Bedrolls

a fast-paced piece using a variety of exotic instruments & wind sfx. there's a small aperture between the window and the frame in my studio...when it's windy it makes a creepy whining sound...with a little e-help, this is reproduced here.

Aeoliae

a decided tribute to Bill Laswell / Nicky Skopelitis here...big fan of their work...
lead instrument, however is acoustic saz and sanxian rather than guitar.
I also worked in some nylon-string guitar.
percussion includes a broken cereal bowl and a lampshade.

Halcyon

a ponderous piece ... as the car reaches the apex, the sounds from below fade from earshot...and our rider is immersed in a separate reality...

Ferris Wheel

another indescribable, category-defying piece...all my own work...
multi-instrumental...
probably good highway driving music...set for maximum rotation.

Nominal Variable

a multi-instrumental piece with a catchy recurring theme...
interplay between the electric guitar, keyboard & other instruments...

Rocket Science

composer of music in a variety of genres; from pop to ambient to ethnic traditional... in recent years have been writing music for stage plays...
a.k.a. "13" on SpaceMedia...

one.prong.down

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